BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
Our readers might have noticed a difference in our new website this week as we unveiled a new digital platform that will better suit the growing needs of our publication and those of our readers. After a long process, which began in November of 2013, we are proud to present this new website.
Asbarez introduced its very first website in 1997, becoming the first Armenian newspaper to have a presence in the then nascent World Wide Web. Our new digital platform goes beyond a facelift and provides a powerful new portal that will, in the coming months, advance our ability to bring you the news and information much faster and in varying formats, including videos and photos in hopes of telling our stories in a more compelling and engaging manner. We hope you enjoy it.
The website was produced by Violet Khodagolian of DesigninLA and her collaborator Vachik Ghadimian. Aside from addressing the functionality of the website and the specific needs of Asbarez, these two young and energetic professionals had the arduous task of ensuring that our archives were properly migrated onto the new site, a task which proved to be much more tedious and time-consuming than initially expected. We would like to thank Khodagolian and Ghadimian for their tireless efforts to ensure the smooth transition of our new platform.
This is one of many projects in the works by Asbarez to upgrade its digital footprint and provide readers with advanced platforms to become engaged and informed. We are currently working with developers on new mobile applications for smartphones and tablets that will be compatible with all operating systems. We hope to unveil them in the coming months.
As is the case with any such endeavor, it begins with a vision and lives on as a work in progress. With new advances and applications, the world of digital publishing has been transformed. We are confident that this new platform will allow us to advance as quickly as possible with the times and the innovations that will enhance and improve our ability to communicate with you and elevate this arena into becoming your—our readers’—Asbarez.
We would like to dedicate this new site to one of our own, who is no longer with us, but whose vision and perseverance guided Asbarez’s advancement into the digital arena by aggressively entering the world of social media and carving a new niche for our 107-year-old publication. We dedicate this site to our colleague, the late Allen Yekikian, who tragically died two years ago Sunday, along with his wife, Sosé, in a car accident.
May is a month of milestones for Asbarez. On May 1, the Asbarez English Section turned 45. To celebrate we introduced the new website as a gift to our readers. On Saturday, May 16, Asbarez will publish its 15,000th issue with the commitment to advance its mission, which was laid out with our first issue on August 14, 1908—to be an arena for its readers on the way to advancing the aspirations of the Armenian people.
